Pertamina Geothermal likely to take over Chevron`s assets

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – A subsidiary of the National Oil and Gas Company, PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), is likely to win a bid in an auction for two geothermal power plants of Chevron Geothermal Indonesia Ltd.

The PGE is expected to beat five other companies competing for the two plants with a capacity of 632 megawatts.

“In addition to having financial support from the parent company, the PGE has a good track record and a proven ability for developing geothermal power plant in the country,” Renewable Energy Community (METI) Chairman Surya Dharma said here on Wednesday.

He added that of the six companies participating in the auction, the PGE was the most ideally suited company to manage Chevrons geothermal assets.

Besides, Surya added, the PGE has a lot of experience in running and developing geothermal projects from upstream to downstream sector.

“The PGEs consistency in geothermal development is proven, even in very difficult situations,” he noted.

Currently, six companies are competing for Chevrons geothermal power plants, namely the Salak power plant in Bogor, West Java with a capacity of 377 MW and the Darajat power plant along the border region of Bandung and Garut districts with a capacity of 255 MW.

The five other companies include the National Electricity Company PT PLN, PT Medco Power and PT Star Energy besides two Japanese companies, Mitsui and Marubeni.

According to Surya, besides having strong financial support, the PGE also has competent human resources in geothermal development and a structured road map for it.

The assets to be sold by Chevron will be in the form of rights to operate the power plants.

Geothermal Director at Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Yunus Saefulhak said the six companies will submit tender documents to Chevron, including the work program and price, in November 2016.

“The winner will probably be announced by the end of 2016 or early 2017,” he added.

The ministry will control the auction to guard against any fall in production, so that the powerbeing sold to PLN remains stable before and after the acquisition process. (*)